


Believing what you're told

by MayRunner



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Holocaust (mention)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 12:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17304884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayRunner/pseuds/MayRunner
Summary: Oneshot. Pre-meet the medic (literally just hours before). Heavy and Medic discuss how easy it is to manipulate people's beliefs, leading to a bit of a Medic origin story.





	Believing what you're told

There was an edge to the air. Blu was expected to attack any minute. Of course they weren’t polite enough to say if that was this minute, the 100th minute or tomorrow. Everyone had their own way of not quite relaxing while they waited in the long abandoned hospital, their current base. Combat gear ready, weapons in reach, as they read, napped, played cards, watched a tv that was struggling to maintain signal.

For Heavy and Medic it had been a friendly game of chess. Something to keep the mind focussed but relaxed until the call to action came. Of course conversation was an added benefit.

“People are easy to manipulate, especially like-minded groups. Without thought the mind is susceptible to adopting the obvious in the moment, until something more obvious convinces you otherwise.” Medic rattled off. They were discussing doomsday cults, of all things.

“Doktor sounds like he is speaking from personal experience.”

Medic paused, hand hovering over the piece he was about to move. Then continued the play.

“Personal experience is from war, isn’t it? You do not have to talk, unless want. I do not need to know.” Heavy understood well enough. He wondered if he should push the conversation back, but perhaps that too would be no good.

Medic remained quiet for the next few plays, his following moves were not as strong as usual. “Do you think it is therapeutic to share such experiences?”

“Depends. Share or don’t share, makes no difference to Heavy.”

Medic sighed. “I can’t stop thinking about it now.”

Heavy waited. It was Medic’s turn again, but he doubted he’d continue to play.

“It vas my cousin. Our families lived on the same street, ve grew up together. I vent to university, she vas married vhen I came back. Usual life circumstances…”

Heavy watched as Medic’s eyes seemed unfocussed.

He came back to the present. “Do you know what the T4 program vas?”

Heavy shook his head.

“Tiergartenstrasse 4? Of course not, it didn’t kill as many people. I suppose it became the test run of what vould be used in the holocaust.”

“Doktor is ok?”

“Ja, always. Vas my cousin, she had a baby born vith club foot, a disability. Only the Midwife and her doctor vere present at the birth, if one of the family… They said the baby vas still born, my cousin said it vasn’t and that they took the baby away. Vith pain medications in her system, the efforts of labour everyone blindly believed the professionals. Even me. I vas recently qualified, should have known better from the start.”

“Is not your fault. Is as Doktor said. Easy to believe what was told.”

Medic nodded, not believing the comfort his friend offered. “My cousin became ill after. Depression and such. Her doctor said she vas hysterical, unmanageable, a burden. She vasn’t, she vould have got better if someone actually took care of her… They rounded up people like her, to care for them. A veek later ve had a death certificate stating she’d died of a ruptured appendix.”

“Was a lie?”

“Yes. She’d had it removed as a child. I thought it vas a mistake. I made enquiries. No information or explanation came. More enquires, nothing. What vas really going on vas a closely guarded secret. I found the location of the centre she’d been taken to. I vent there. I vas turned away, I vas going to investigate more, but I vas conscripted shortly after.”

“Deliberately?”

Medic shrugged. “Probably. They did like to send me to the more dangerous lines. Vould have been easier to hope I’d get shot than orchestrate a reason to euthanise me. It vasn’t until after the var ended I discovered it vas a gas chamber. My cousin and her child had been systematically murdered, and no one knew something vas wrong.”

“Is not Doktor’s fault.”

“Her Doctor vas never punished for his part in her murder.” Medic’s morose state suddenly switched to a manic grin. “Not officially. Heavy I have to tell you this.” Medic became more animated. “He had arthritis and vas admitted to orthopaedics because of his constant complaining. He still had this high and mighty demeanour to him and-”

“Alert. Battle commencing in two minutes.”

“I’ll finish the story later.” Grabbing the last pieces of his gear Medic dashed away.

Heavy frowned to himself, picking up Sasha. How much of Medic’s smile had been genuine, or was it all a mask? He wondered. With the battle imminent, such thoughts had to wait.

Later, after an accident with a stray rocket. Medic completed his tale with Heavy’s heart in his hand. Debilitating someone for the rest of their life was apparently Medic’s idea of justice. Heavy supposed it was a rather fitting end for someone who’d assisted in the extermination of the disabled and mentally unwell.

**Author's Note:**

> So Medic's story is kinda the prelude to the story he tells Heavy during meet the medic. With his cousin's doctor ending up becoming his skeletonless patient. Sorry for any mistakes, wrote this in one go late at night. Posting before I lose the confidence too.


End file.
